Ready or Not Redlands!

k y'all, I swear, this is my last EFY post. I couldn't believe the 8 weeks were coming to an end! EFY was such a fun experience this summer in a new place meeting a TON of new people. I was so happy and felt so blessed I was able to do EFY one last time. (I swear, I'm done.)

I got to work my last week with this kid I've known since Freshman year! We pulled a few strings and was able to have Tanner come out for our last session, which was fun!

I was SO excited that this cute girl was in my BC group for the 3rd time this summer! And on her week off seh went to Hawaii and let me wear her lei on Monday! We also lived across the hall from each other. Not mad about it. I loved our late night chats and eating reese's pieces 

 I had a lot of 'small world' moments this summer. One being randomly running into an old family friend back when I was just a little girl in Georgia at Chick Fil A in California. What are the odds?! It was so fun to see her for a minute though!

 And my Aunt and Uncle are awesome and came down to take me to lunch one day! My team knew who my Aunt Phyllis was because she likes all the pictures on Facebook so she was a team celeb. Of course she loved them and they loved her! My family rocks! 

We had one more game night, and did it Olympic style. It was a success. We love America. 

 We were relieved to be done with Pizza Night's for the summer! Although Pizza night is one of my favorite times, it is so stressful organizing and making sure everything worked out! 

We had a hilarious girls night with our session directors. While we ate in one room, and laughed like stupid little girls, the boys on the team were in another room eating Taco Bell and being dumb boys. It was so funny.

 And it was the final debut of the 'don't be a back tiger' sexual purity talk by Sam Drake. It was a classic. 

 My Family this summer was beyond amazing! We had such a fun time together and got along so well! Of course all families have arguments, but it was nothing ever extreme. I loved getting to know these people and work with them all summer long!

 And adding Keith to our family was a huge success! Sadly, he can't be split 9 ways and it was Suzanne's gift so Mama was taking him home! I sure do miss that cuddly bear. He was famous. 

 Carly was one of my favorite girls I had in my BC groups! I only had her 2 of the 4 weeks, but I still felt like I was her BC every week! I loved her and getting to know her this summer! Wish she didn't have to be at BYU- Idaho! 

 I was the DJ for our last dance and had to make it the best! 7 weeks of EFY is exhausting so you could say that we were all pretty tired at this point, but didn't want to miss out on our last dance together! 

 Carissa was another one of my girls in my BC group that week! She was such a gem and so fun to hang out with! Her kids were so fun to be around! I would spend free time in the girls hall jamming to music and eating junk food. They were solid kids. Loved them.  and loved her. she was a fantastic counselor!

 One of the EFY admins came to this session and brought his entire family! This little cutie, Brooklyn, is his youngest and she was the CUTEST! She would come follow me at times, dance with me, play with me. I loved her! 

 And our Session Directors were BOMB! Sister McFayden was the actual session director and she was so awesome! And of course I loved her because she just happens to be the sister of my old voice lessons teacher back in Georgia! And she is incredible as well so I knew I would just love her! We had a lot of fun with these two that week! 

 We were all smiles, but in reality, we were so sad that EFY was over. My team was incredible. Everyone was so thoughtful, loving, kind, and willing to help out anywhere they could! 

I have definitely felt a gap in my life without these people around me! We had an EPIC summer of EFY! SO many great times together that I will always cherish. 

I'm glad I decided last minute to do EFY. I learned and grew so much this summer and owe it all to my loving Heavenly Father. He puts people in my life for a reason and I feel so blessed I had the opportunity to meet so many incredible people. I know I am a better person because of it. 

And that's a wrap of my EFY summer! 

It's crazy to think that was it. No more summers. I've done EFY every summer since my Freshman year of college. It's been a part of my life in so many ways and I owe so much to this program! It truly is an incredible program that I feel grateful I've been able to be a part of for so long. But now, it's time to really move on and live the grown up life. But I'll never forget all the years, the memories, the friends, the youth, the changes, and good times I had for all those summers.